The door closed behind them, leaving a sudden, ringing silence that seemed to fall about the dead hunter.
I counted to thirty. Made sure they were actually gone. Made sure no one stayed behind to eavesdrop.
Then I turned to the Oracle. “We have maybe five minutes before someone realizes I just sent them on pointless chases in the wrong directions.”
She smiled. “Then we should go. Now would be best.”
“I need Timber,” I said, not making it a request. “I’m not going into the Ash without my cinderhowl.”
Calder raised an eyebrow. “We can send Silas.”
“Even if that grumpy fucker understood what you were saying, he has no idea where my kennels are.”
Calder chuckled. “You’d be surprised what that griffin knows.”
Silas stepped from the shadows in the corner of the room before launching himself out the window with no direction given.
Now our only problem was getting out.
The rune eater leaned a fraction closer. “The hunters at the wall won’t stand down just because you order them to. Your father’s lockdown is absolute. They’ll have standing orders not to let anyone through, Commander’s authority or not.”
The Oracle laughed. Actually laughed, the sound bright and unexpected in the tension.
“Oh, darling charidryn. We’re not going through the front gate.” She moved toward Riot. “We’re going over it.”
Chapter 37
Syneca
Never finish a book you find open on a stranger’s table. The previous reader left it that way as a warning, not an invitation.
The forest roared.
Not an animal sound. Not wind through trees. Something massive moving through the air with enough force to shake the cottage windows, jostling Eda Mire’s herb jars violently and rattling the map right off the table.
Pip shot straight to the ceiling, wings beating so frantically she became a blur of blue and panic. “What was that? That sounded like something that wants to eat us.”
Lucy and I were already moving toward the door.
“That was dragon wings. Big ones,” she answered.
Pip flew to her side, giant eyes doubling in size. “How did you know that?”
I didn’t wait for an answer, shoving the door open and bursting into the Bloodwood clearing just in time to see Riot fill the entire space in full dragon form. Enormous didn’t begin to cover it. Purple scales caught the morning light like jewels,iridescent and otherworldly, making him look less like a creature and more like a work of beautiful art given wings and teeth. He was still catching his breath, sides heaving.
Three figures slid off his back with varying degrees of grace.
Calder landed like he’d done this before, boots hitting dirt and already scanning the area. The Oracle came next, guided down by Riot’s careful positioning. Wickett hit the ground last and immediately stumbled, one hand clutching his left side.
That’s when I saw it. Dark red soaked through his shirt.
“Fuck.” I moved before thinking, crossing the clearing fast enough that Lucy and Pip had to scramble to keep up. “Your stitches opened.”
“I’m fine. Just need to catch my breath.” Wickett’s voice was tight with pain, with pure stubbornness. He straightened, trying to project the Ripper mask he wore like armor, but failing spectacularly because blood didn’t lie.
I lunged, tucking myself under his arm to steady him. “You need help. How long have you been bleeding?”
Calder took his other side. “Since we went over the wall. Dragon flight isn’t smooth. And he refused to say anything until right before we landed.”
